Being Great

In his sermon on February 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged his congregation to seek greatness through service and love, not fame and fortune. “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve,” he said. He ended that sermon, just two months before his assassination, by imagining what he wanted to be said at his funeral. He said, “Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize…or…where I went to school. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others…tried to love somebody.”

On this MLK holiday, we share these words along with images of volunteers serving in our community. These great volunteers are from ServiceMaster, Las Americas, Memphis Athletic Ministries, Samaritan’s Feet, St. George’s Independent School, Christ Community Health Services, Serve 901, Service Over Self (SOS), Carpenter Art Garden, Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church, Room in the Inn, Church Health, The Way, St. John’s United Methodist Church, and Manna House.

In memory of one who who gave his life serving and loving others. May we all be inspired to serve with “heart(s) full of grace, soul(s) generated by love.”